


Truth - Abby

by PrehistoricCat



Series: Truth [1]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Friendship/Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 15:45:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrehistoricCat/pseuds/PrehistoricCat
Summary: Abby has been keeping a secret, but for how much longer?





	Truth - Abby

Abby stood watching through the kitchen window, amused at Matt and Becker trying to work out how to erect the tents whilst two excited six year old boys bounced around making encouraging comments. Reece Becker and Adam Maitland-Temple had been promised months ago that they could pitch their new tents on Abby's back garden and have a sleep over just as soon as the weather got warm enough, so here they were.

 

“I'm not sure who's the most excited,” Jess commented, joining Abby at the window.

 

“I know!” Abby laughed. “You'd think by the amount of planning that's gone into this they were camping in the middle of the jungle with no civilisation for miles around.”

 

When Becker and Matt had agreed to help the boys experience their first camping trip they took it very seriously. Both were experts at 'roughing it' through no real choice of their own, so were keen that the boys had fun but also learnt a little from it. Eventually the plan was for them all to go on a proper trip for a long weekend somewhere, but tonight was a training exercise to see if the boys could actually stand to sleep outdoors. If they hated it, the house – and the comfort of a proper bed and clean bathroom – was only a few metres away.

 

The boys were going to share the larger of the three tents, whilst Matt and Becker had their own. They had plans too, plans involving a few cans of beer mostly once the boys were asleep. Abby had warned them that six year old boys camping out for the first time probably wouldn't sleep much, but neither had listened. They'd learn very quickly.

 

“Are you sure you don't mind if I go home? With Lucy not being 100%, its not fair to keep her up and out of her own bed.” Jess said.

 

“It's fine, honestly. The boys are in capable hands, and I'm going to make the most of having some time to myself.”

 

Both women looked up at the sound of laughter. One of the tents had collapsed with Matt inside. Abby smiled. She suspected it had happened on purpose, there was no way either Matt or Becker would not be able to put up a basic tent properly. She was used to Matt acting the clown around Adam occasionally, a side of him no-one else ever saw.

 

“He's good with the kids isn't he?” Jess said softly. “Adam looks up to him, you can tell.”

 

“Yeah. He does.”

 

“You must be grateful to have Matt around so much.”

 

Abby turned away. The conversation always seemed to end up the same just recently, and whilst she managed to deflect the questioning well, she knew a time would come when she'd be off guard and the secrets she'd been keeping all these years would come tumbling out. It was already becoming more and more difficult to hide a truth that was as plain as day once you knew. Someone would notice before long, and then she'd have no choice but to confess.

 

“I don't blame you though,” Jess continued to push. “Matt's a nice guy, good looking... single.”

 

“Jess....” Abby warned.

 

“You don't seriously think he spends so much time here just to be with Adam do you? My offer of babysitting for you still stands – you can take Matt out for dinner or to the cinema, have a proper date without Adam in tow and see where....”

 

“There's no romantic interest between Matt and I. He's a good friend and he's been there for me since Connor died, that's all there is to it.” She had to move away and pull herself together. It was true, Matt had been her rock from the moment she stepped off the plane from Vancouver with a toddler in tow. He'd thought of everything, from getting her and Adam through immigration quickly using his Home Office credentials, arranging for someone to collect their cases and driving them to a quiet hotel to ensuring that Connor's body was escorted with dignity from the plane to the mortuary so that the difficult task of arranging the funeral could begin.

 

Young Lucy chose that moment to let mummy know that she wasn't feeling well, and Jess had to disappear with her to the bathroom to mop her up. Abby breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by a vomiting baby. She watched as the collapsed tent began to take shape again, then closed her eyes. She understood why Jess kept pushing for her and Matt to get together but Abby knew it was pointless. There wasn't a spark of romance between them – there'd certainly been lust at one point, particularly that fateful night that changed Abby's life, but nothing more.

 

She'd not planned to cheat on Connor, but they had been going through a difficult patch for some time. They'd put wedding plans on hold and then Connor was offered a place on Evan Cross's team in Vancouver. Connor was excited – Evan's Anomaly research wasn't bound by government red tape and he was looking at developing new technology to help both teams. He'd been impressed with Connor's work on New Dawn, despite the terrible consequences and saw the potential in taking that work in other directions. The only thing holding Connor back was Abby. She wasn't sure that she could just leave behind her life in the UK so easily.

 

They'd had a terrible row and Abby had stormed out, got in her car and driven at speed out of town. She'd ended up in the middle of nowhere before she'd calmed down, and then stopped the car to try and make a decision about what to do. Somehow she'd ended up at Matt's place, as she often did. She found him easy to talk to, and he generally gave good, rational and impartial advice.

 

After sharing a couple of cold beers and Abby had poured out her concerns to Matt, she waited for him to tell her she was being selfish and should at least give Vancouver a try. She watched him slowly digest everything she'd said and her mind drifted. Not for the first time, she'd found herself wondering what his lips tasted like. She'd always managed to resist the urge before, and on the one occasion she'd almost gone in for a kiss, Matt had realised and moved away, saving her from embarrassment. But something was different tonight. She moved in closer and her lips gently brushed against his. She expected resistance and a polite rejection, but he returned the kiss. It happened very quickly, months of suppressed lust exploding as their mouths crushed together, clothes were practically torn away and then their bodies joining as one in a moment of intense heat and passion.

 

The one night stand put a strain on their friendship, and both avoided each other for days. Abby had realised that maybe what she had with Connor was worth fighting for and perhaps a completely fresh start in Vancouver was what they needed to rescue their relationship. She'd been so caught up in all the arrangements and packing that it was only the day before the big move that she realised her period was late. A trip to the chemist confirmed her fears. She was pregnant. And it could only be Matt's baby. She and Connor had barely kissed recently, let alone sleep together.

 

Abby kept her pregnancy a secret for a few weeks, long enough for her to be able to say it was Connor's He was delighted of course and he threw himself into creating a home for the three of them in Vancouver. When the baby arrived, no-one seemed to give a second thought that he was early and commented on just how much he looked like Abby. She was able to dismiss the baby's fair colouring as her side of the family and she was happy to let Connor raise the child as his own. No-one would even entertain the thought that another man was the father, but Abby did wonder just how long it would be before Connor questioned things. Adam grew more like Matt as he got older, or was it just Abby that saw it?

 

And then, Connor was killed in a freak accident during an anomaly alert. Abby was shattered, and after the funeral back in England she couldn't bare the thought of going back to Canada without Connor.

 

Abby wiped a tear from her cheek. Connor had been the love of her life and he'd adored being a father. It would have killed him if he'd known Adam wasn't his son, so she had decided that no-one would ever know the truth at least until Adam was a man himself. But it was harder and harder to keep her secret, and deep down she knew Matt deserved to know the truth too. Just not yet.

 


End file.
